"Science of Character"

This is really profound. 8 minutes long and worth that amount of time!

"Awareness" : 2014 Books

Thanks to the weekly book study, Wisdom Class, I recently read Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello for the second time. I probably need to re-read it several more times to learn and practice "awareness" more often. These essays seem to be from transcripts of retreats he gave, so reading them aloud enhances understanding. We did not do that very often in our meetings, but needed to be reminded that that was the form of writing. He keeps saying, "Wake up!"

"Put this program into action, a thousand times: (a) identify the negative feelings in you; (b) undertand they are in you, not in the world, not in external reality; (c) do not see them as an essential part of 'I'; these things come and go; (d) understand that when you change, everything changes." (89)


It helped to watch videos of Anthony de Mello; we were fortunate to have these loaned to us to watch. But his talks are available on the internet via U-tube--go here! It is definitely worth the time to look at one or more of these. Here is a 4-minute glimpse:



And about God:

"The fact is that you're surrounded by God and you don't see God, because you 'know' about God. The final barrier to the vision of God is your God concept. You miss God because you think you know. That's the terrible thing about religion. That's what the gospels were saying, that religious people 'knew,' so they got rid of Jesus. The highest knowledge of God is to know God as unknowable. There is far too much God talk; the world is sick of it. There is too little awareness, too little love, too little happiness, but let's not use those words either. There's too little dropping of illusions, dropping of errors, dropping of attachments and cruelty, too little awareness...." (102)

I highly recommend this book and will be reading it again.

Lent Madness!

I signed up for Lent Madness. Watch this video and see if you want to participate, too.

Amazing Video about Wolves at Yellowstone

Watch and Smile!

Post by Bhaskar Rao.

All Together Now!

This is only 1 1/2 minutes long and is so funny! Watch!

Democracy: The Process is More Important than the Outcome

Fair and eloquent assessment of the current impasse in Congress of the USA by Fareed Zakaria:

"Quiet" by Susan Cain

Last year my daughters in Seattle AE and KA gave me the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a Word That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. It has taken me awhile to read it, but now I am glad I spent the last week reading it. It is well-researched and well-written about a subject that describes me, an introvert.

Since I have not been blogging much lately, I am dedicating future posts to quotes and thoughts about this book.

Susan Cain also gave an excellent TED talk:

The Church Doesn't Like People to Grow Up

John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop from Newark, N.J., interviewed by Keith Morrison on Dateline, NBC, 8-13-2006

Google and the Wild Rumpus!

Google celebrates Maurice Sendak's birthday today! Let the wild rumpus begin! I loved his books as a teacher, parent and hope to as a grandmother!

Part Time Vegetarianism?

As I ponder better health, I have been urged by my daughters to try Meatless Mondays. That is a serious consideration. And here's a talk about "part time" vegetarianism:

Imagine for 1 Minute

Wealth Inequality in America

My daughter KA shared this on Facebook, and I keep thinking about it. Please watch:. Then you can tell me what you think.

Amazing Teaching!

This video is 10 minutes long but so worth the time spent watching it. She taught cooking students to cook paying attention and then with the intention of love, and the results surprised everyone. Even the food tasted better! And an added plus is I learned a better way to chop up onions.

Love Cannot Be Silenced!

Power of Introverts

Susan Cain is the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. A good friend recently recommended it to me to read.

I found Susan Cain's TED's Talk about introverts, which is featured below. I love her beginning segment, where she talks about going to summer camp for the very first time with a full bag of books that her mother helped her to pack. She came from a family who enjoyed reading together, each with his/her own book. That sounds like my family!

Whether you are an extrovert or an introvert, this 19 minute video is entertaining and interesting! I hope you'll take the time to watch it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

50 State Salute to Banned Books

With thanks to Banned Books Challenge Blog.

Banned Books Week

Conversation in Picture Books!